Paul and The Big Lebowski

I recently got sent some more iTunes movies to review. I like getting free stuff and, as you can tell from the post titles, these were good’uns 🙂

Paul

Paul is the latest film from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and the only one to feature a potty mouthed alien.

Generally I watch the iTunes movies on my iPhone however since Jo, my better half, wanted to see Paul I decided to hook my laptop up to the tv – I was able to do this on my Samsung lcd tv with a normal monitor cable and a Mac adaptor. I already had both these since I work with my laptop on a second screen. Unfortunately I didn’t have a cable for the speakers so I used the ones built into my Mac Book Pro – which worked surprisingly well.

If anyone knows what cables I need to hook up my Macs sound up to my tv then I would love some suggestions.

Regarding the film itself, it’s a bit of a geek-fest. If you ‘get’ the references then the film will be a lot more enjoyable – I was able to catch a handful of them but I am sure there were many more I missed.

Paul is actually the name of an alien who looks rather like the sterotypical image that most people have (small, grey, big head). He’s really well realised – at no point did I think of him as a digitally created creature. As mentioned in other reviews he’s surprisingly sweary – which I can only assume was done for the shock factor since the swears are not used for laughs.

If you go into Paul expecting a light easy to digest comedy then you won’t be disappointed. It’s predictable, even the convoluted ending, but it’s also entertaining and enjoyable.

The Big Lebowski

I rather like the Coen brothers, their films are almost guaranteed to be awesome. To be honest The Big Lebowski isn’t my favorite of their movies (although I am not sure which one is), but it is rather jolly good, and I have now been sent a copy of it for iTunes so I was able to download, and watch, The Big Lebowski on the train to work!

For Jo, and the three other people in the world who haven’t seen ‘The Big Lebowski’ the plot goes something like this:

“The Dude” Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs pee on his rug to make him pay a debt that’s not his. He goes to the Big Lebowski to ask for some money to pay for his ruined rug. A one-time, high payout, job is his reward so The Dude asks his bowling buddy Walter, a gun-nut with a short fuse, for help. Craziness ensues as everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists seem to want something from the laid back Dude.

It’s a classic movie – if you haven’t seen it, then you owe it to yourself to give it a try, whether through iTunes, or some other means.